A lawsuit has been filed against American football’s NFL by four individuals who had tickets for last week’s Hall of Fame game, which was cancelled due to problems with the pitch.
The suit, which was filed yesterday (Thursday) in the US Northern District Court of Ohio, is seeking more than $5m (€4.5m) in compensation from the league.
The complaint alleges that the league and the Pro Football Hall of Fame misled ticket-holders that the game would begin on time – and sold more food, drink and merchandise as a result – despite being aware of the poor field conditions at Tom Benson Hall of Fame stadium in Canton several hours before the contest was scheduled to take place.
Some 22,000 fans were left disappointed on Sunday when the clash between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts was cancelled just minutes before the kick off.
The four plaintiffs – Alan Biland, Matthew Crabb, Tiffany Ratcliff and Carmelo Treviso, who travelled from out of town to attend the game – are seeking class-action status from the court, which would allow any other ticket-holder to join the suit.
The lawsuit claims that Colts and Packers staff were told at 6.40pm that the game was cancelled, but the fans were not informed of the news until nearly 80 minutes later, moments before the scheduled 8pm start time.
“(The NFL) allowed and encouraged fans to purchase food, beverages and souvenirs at the stadium as they waited for a game that would never start, and did so in the interest of money,” the lawsuits states.
The suit also references Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Texas in 2011, when a Dallas court ordered the NFL to pay $76,000 to fans who had purchased tickets for temporary seats that were ultimately deemed to be unsafe just hours before kick-off.
“The NFL unfortunately has a history of mismanaging the stadiums where its games are held,” the lawsuit says.
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